Wild use 3-goal second period to beat Sabres 4-1

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Minnesota Wild right wing Mats Zuccarello is congratulated for his goal against the Buffalo Sabres during the second period of an NHL hockey game Saturday, March 22, 2025, in St. Paul, Minn. (AP Photo/Matt Krohn)

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Minnesota Wild center Yakov Trenin, left, and Buffalo Sabres left wing Beck Malenstyn get into a scrum during the second period of an NHL hockey game Saturday, March 22, 2025, in St. Paul, Minn. (AP Photo/Matt Krohn)

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Buffalo Sabres center Tage Thompson, right, commits a hooking penalty against Minnesota Wild center Yakov Trenin, middle, during the first period of an NHL hockey game Saturday, March 22, 2025, in St. Paul, Minn. (AP Photo/Matt Krohn)

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Minnesota Wild right wing Justin Brazeau, left, skates with the puck alongside Buffalo Sabres defenseman Owen Power during the first period of an NHL hockey game Saturday, March 22, 2025, in St. Paul, Minn. (AP Photo/Matt Krohn)

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Minnesota Wild center Marco Rossi, left, and Buffalo Sabres defenseman Bowen Byram compete for the puck during the first period of an NHL hockey game Saturday, March 22, 2025, in St. Paul, Minn. (AP Photo/Matt Krohn)

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Minnesota Wild center Marco Rossi is congratulated after scoring goal against the Buffalo Sabres during the second period of an NHL hockey game Saturday, March 22, 2025, in St. Paul, Minn. (AP Photo/Matt Krohn)

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Buffalo Sabres defenseman Bowen Byram (4) shoots the puck against the Minnesota Wild during the second period of an NHL hockey game Saturday, March 22, 2025, in St. Paul, Minn. (AP Photo/Matt Krohn)

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Minnesota Wild defenseman Brock Faber, left, skates with the puck as Buffalo Sabres center Tage Thompson (72) chases during the second period of an NHL hockey game Saturday, March 22, 2025, in St. Paul, Minn. (AP Photo/Matt Krohn)

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Minnesota Wild right wing Mats Zuccarello, left, and Buffalo Sabres center Peyton Krebs compete for the puck during the first period of an NHL hockey game Saturday, March 22, 2025, in St. Paul, Minn. (AP Photo/Matt Krohn)

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Buffalo Sabres left wing Jordan Greenway, left, and Minnesota Wild defenseman Jared Spurgeon compete for the puck during the second period of an NHL hockey game Saturday, March 22, 2025, in St. Paul, Minn. (AP Photo/Matt Krohn)

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Minnesota Wild center Gustav Nyquist (41) skates with the puck against the Buffalo Sabres during the second period of an NHL hockey game Saturday, March 22, 2025, in St. Paul, Minn. (AP Photo/Matt Krohn)

By MIKE COOK

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Marco Rossi, Justin Brazeau, Mats Zuccarello and Frederick Gaudreau scored, and the Minnesota Wild beat the Buffalo Sabres 4-1 on Saturday.

Comfortably in the Western Conference first wild-card spot, Minnesota moved within two points of third-place Colorado in the Central Division. The Wild finished a season-long seven-game homestand 4-2-1.

Filip Gustavsson improved to 6-2-1 in March by making 20 saves. He has a 1.65 goals-against average, a .941 save percentage and two shutouts this month.

JJ Peterka scored and Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen stopped 17 shots for Buffalo, which lost its second straight game and is 3-8-1 in its past 12 outings.

Netting his career-high 22nd goal of the season, Rossi converted a pass from Yakov Trenin less than a minute into the middle period for his first goal in 12 games. Brazeau scored his first goal with the Wild about four minutes later. He was acquired from Boston on March 6.

Zuccarello converted a feed from Matt Boldy, who had two assists, to make it 3-0 before the period’s midway point.

Takeaways

Sabres: Peterka has goals in back-to-back games since returning Thursday. He missed three games with a lower-body injury.

Wild: D Jonas Brodin returned after missing the past nine games with a lower-body injury.

Key moment

Gustavsson slid across the crease to stop Alex Tuch on an early Buffalo power-play and made a toe save on Tage Thompson a few minutes later to keep the game scoreless after his team was badly outplayed in the opening 20 minutes.

Key stat

Per NHL Stats, Boldy’s two assists give him at least 60 points in three straight seasons, tying Zuccarello (2021-24), Kirill Kaprizov (2021-24) and Mikko Koivu (2008-11) for the longest run in Wild history.

Up next

Buffalo wraps up a four-game road trip Sunday at Winnipeg. Minnesota is at Dallas on Monday.

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AP NHL: https://www.apnews.com/hub/NHL